A Critical Account of English Syntax: Grammar, Meaning, Text

by Keith Brown, Jim Miller

Overview

Tackling the role of syntactic constructions in text, this companion brings out the connections between syntactic structures and semantics/pragmatics and the function of different clausal structures in written and spoken texts. It also draws attention to variation in standard written English, to the grammatical structures and discourse devices in spoken English, and to ongoing changes in English grammar. It focuses on the concepts of descriptive grammar as extended and refined over the last fifty years.

• Encyclopedic format gives immediate access the most relevant topic
  Cross-referencing allows students to follow a thread and explore the interrelationships between syntactic structures
• Innovative structure of the volume enables lecturers to decide the order in which they wish to discuss topics and to prescribe reading

This is a practical yet flexible reference that you can return to again and again, whether it be for learning, research or teaching.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780748696109
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	11/21/2016
Series:	Edinburgh Textbooks on the English Language - Advanced
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Affiliated lecturer, Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge

Jim Miller is Emeritus Professor at the University of Edinburgh, where he had a personal chair in Linguistics and Spoken Language. He works on the syntax and discourse organisation of spoken and written language, grammar and semantics, standard and non-standard languages, and literacy.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Grammaticality; Adjectives and Adjective Phrases; Adverbs and Adverb Phrases; Adverbial Clauses; Clause and Text; Clause Structure; Clefts; Complement Clauses; Constructions; Non-Finite Clauses; Nouns and Noun Phrases; Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases; Relative Clauses; Sentences and Clauses; Verbs and Verb Phrases; Word Classes

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Brown and Miller are observers par excellence of what Henry Sweet called the "real life of language". Their fascination with constructions that typify spoken and non-standard Englishes set this new book on English syntax apart. It will become a landmark in the writing of grammars for the twenty-first century.

Prof. Karen Corrigan, Newcastle University